Butternut Squash Gözleme & Fennel Dipping Sauce

An Australian G+ friend recently mentioned gözleme in his stream and having never encountered this less puffy and more conveniently prepared, Middle Eastern version of calzone, I was intrigued. This filled, grilled, and yeasted flat bread is gorgeous Turkish street food. Instead of serving it with ayran, a refreshing yogurt drink, I opted for a thicker dip, replacing the traditional mint with fennel.

A bit of lemon juice squeezed on the gözleme is a nice accompaniment 

My choice of filling and dip was influenced by items found in our potager (fennel, sorrel), root cellar (butternut squash, onion), cupboard (pistachios), and fridge (crème fraîche) and my focus on keeping the taste more Middle Eastern than not.

Ingredients
(makes 32 two-inch gözleme. Any dough/filling not used can be frozen or the recipe could be halved)

• Butternut squash, roasted, pureed, 500 gms/16 fluid ounces (about 1 medium whole squash)
• Onion, 1 small, thinly sliced
• Pistachios, shelled, finely minced, 1 to 2 T
• Sorrel, fresh, a small handful
• Olive oil, 90 ml/3 fluid ounces
• Flour, white, 415 gms/24 fluid ounces
• Yeast, dried, 1 heaping tsp
• Sugar, 1 tsp
• Water, tepid, 275-300 ml/9-10 fluid ounces (depending on the age of flour, fresher requires more fluid)
• Crème fraîche or very thick yogurt, 235 ml/8 fluid ounces
• Fennel, fresh, 1 heaping T
• Garlic, 1 clove, pressed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Lemon slices

Yes, that is Parmesan in the upper right hand corner, but it is not an ingredient. Don't ask!

How to roast butternut squash is covered here.

While the squash is baking, prepare the dough. Making a well, add the yeast, sugar, and a pinch of salt (a pinch is the amount of salt remaining between your thumb and forefinger once you make the pinch).

Pour on the tepid water which needs to feel lukewarm when tested on the inner part of your wrist. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Knead dough about ten minutes until it is smooth. If a stand mixer is available just put the ingredients in the mixer's bowl and choose the paddle attachment for kneading. Make sure that the dough is not sticky at all, adding flour if necessary. Put the ball on a lightly oiled plate, cover with a clean, moistened tea cloth/dish towel and place in a warm place (over a heating pad, in a very low oven, over a radiator) until roughly doubled in bulk which should take about thirty minutes.

Scoop out the squash and using a stick mixer or a potato masher/fork puree the flesh.

Moderately carmelise the onions in a small amount of oil for about fifteen minutes. Towards the end, toss in the chiffonade of sorrel (stack washed leaves, trim off the stem end of the pile, roll starting from one side until you have a fat cigar shape, and slice thinly). Stir for a half-minute or until it becomes grey and mushy. It practically evaporates, but does leave behind a nice, lemony accent.

Stir the onion mixture into the squash and toss in the pistachios. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

With a back of a spoon, roughly divide the filling into eight parts.

For the dipping sauce mix together the crème fraîche, fennel, and pressed garlic. Add enough salt to give it a zing.

Briefly knead by hand the dough to get a firm ball, adding flour if it is still sticky. Divide it into eight equal parts. I weighed mine but feel free to eye-ball the approximate size. I won't tell anyone! Dust your work area lightly with flour and roll out into an one-eighth thick circle about six inches in diameter.

The filling is more thickly smeared than it is piled on.

Fold the top edge smack towards the center point of the dough circle and the filling. The goal is to completely encase the stuffing. Follow with a side.

Do the same with the bottom edge.

Finishing up with the remaining side edge, the filling will be nicely enveloped. Lightly press down with your hands to tighten up folds. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Preheat a heavy-bottomed skillet (seasoned cast iron works well) over a medium flame for several minutes.

Coat one surface of the pastry packet well with olive oil.

Flip the oil-coated side of one pastry onto the hot skillet and cook for about three minutes. Apply olive oil onto the top, turning it over to cook for another three minutes. If you want to serve all of them at the same time, keep the already cooked ones warm in a low oven and finish pan-grilling the rest.

Gözleme also resembles stuffed Indian paratha.

Cut each large square into four smaller ones with a sharp knife/pizza cutter. Served hot, the stuffed flat bread was satisfyingly comforting as only fresh bread can be, a bit chewy, a bit gooey, and really lovely! The piquant dip and lemon slices were a nice foil to the filling's nutty sweetness.

The two uncut sides allow you to pick up a square fairly cleanly so it is great finger food

À la prochaine!

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Marinated Roast Loin of Pork with Mushroom Gravy...and smashed potatoes redux

Though the French are fond of simmering pork in milk which ensures moist tenderness, sometimes only roasted pork will satisfy a certain appetite. Since loin pork roasts that come my way usually lack a thick, top layer of fat which would act as a self-basting source, I do two things to keep it from becoming a dry husk of its former succulent self: 1) marinading with olive oil, garlic, thyme, and sage overnight and 2) roasting first at a higher temperature and then halfway through lowering the heat. Tucking some chopped onions and carrots under the meat adds flavour to the gravy while including the liquid from soaking dried Boletus edulis cèpes increases the amount.

 Nicely browned with a thin crackling and redolent of herbs, this roast looks, smells, and tastes delicious

Recipe for mashed potatoes is here

MARINADE (for a roast weighing about a kilogram)

Olive oil, extra virgin, around 4 tsps
Herbs, fresh (I used equal proportions of thyme and sage from our potager), 1 T
Garlic, 2 cloves, pressed
Salt

PORK ROAST
4 generous servings

Loin of pork, boneless, about 1 kg/2.2 pounds in weight
Onion, 1 small, finely chopped, about 2 T
Carrot, 1 small, finely chopped, about 2 T

GRAVY

Cèpes, a small handful
Liquid from soaking cèpes, 16 fluid ounces/455 ml
Drippings from the pork roast, 2 T (if not sufficient, melt enough butter)
Flour, white, 2 T
Carrot & onions roasted underneath the roast
Cream, 1 T
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

The night before make the marinade. Mix the minced herbs, pressed garlic, and olive oil together to get a gloppy paste.

Using your fingers, rub the paste all over the roast--top, bottom, front, back, and sides. Dust the top of the pork lightly with salt. Choose an oven pan that is not much bigger than the roast (to prevent drippings from evaporating/scorching). Cover well with plastic wrap or your fridge will reek from garlic. Reserve overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 425 degrees F/218 degrees C. Instructions for soaking cèpes are here. Finely chop the carrots and onions and place under the pork, making sure that the veggies are covered by the meat.  If they stray outside the protective cover of the roast they will get carbonised. Put the roast in the oven. 

After about forty-five minutes, lower temperature to 350 degrees F/177 degrees C.  Following about forty minutes, test by piercing the meat and checking the juice which should have a slight tinge of pink (See related post at the end for more information on safely roasting pork without overcooking). Put roast on a warm plate and place a large enough bowl over it to keep it warm while the gravy is prepared. Slice just before serving, making sure any juice that oozes out is added to the gravy.

Transfer the drippings and the veggies (discarding any that got burnt) from the roasting pan into a small saucepan. Add butter if necessary as to get two tablespoons of fat. Stir in two tablespoons of flour to the hot fat and cook for about a minute. Pour slowly, stirring all the while, the liquid from soaking the cèpes. Add the chopped mushrooms. Mix smooth with a hand-held blender. Simmer for a few minutes until thickened. Add the cream and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Any leftover pork slices can be frozen. Freezing the surplus gravy separately allows a gentle way of reheating the pork: bring the gravy to a simmer first and then add the meat. Within a minute or two, the slices will be ready to serve without much additional cooking which could lessen its tenderness.

A slice or so of roasted pork was reserved to add to stir fry brown rice (recipe is here). I sauteed thinly sliced pork in hot oil briefly, for about a minute.

Reserve them on a plate while finishing the fried rice, tossing in the pork towards the end of cooking.

Our harvest from the previous season is slowly and surely diminishing. The last of the taters went into a skillet of smashed potatoes (recipe is here). Remember to discard any potatoes that have a greenish tint since the skins will be eaten. Omitting onions and mild chili peppers, I used a mix of minced fresh fennel, thyme, rosemary, and sage from our potager. The herbs along with chopped garlic were added after the potatoes were flipped over and close to the end of cooking so as to keep those ingredients from becoming burnt. With freshly grated Parmesan sprinkled over them, this is fast becoming my favourite comfort food.

Fifty percent of the potatoes we eat annually are homegrown!

Our cache of frozen strawberries won't last until this season's harvest, but happily there's enough to last for a few more months. The Calm One makes weekly crepes, and this time we stuffed them with whipped cream and our juicy berries. We then topped them with icing sugar. Pas trop mal!

Eating these delicious berries spurred me to tidy the strawberry beds in anticipation of the harvest starting in late spring. This is the time to order bare-rooted strawberries for late winter/early spring planting. Remember that they are adaptable to growing in pots/barrels and around shrubs because of their pretty flowers, attractive foliage, and gorgeous fruit.

The front end has been weeded and the strawberry plants mounded up to their crowns

The mild, wet winter has encouraged very early sprouting of the rhubarb.

The same weather has allowed the broccoli to stay alive though it is technically mid-winter. Unfortunately the harvest is very light anyway because I just could not keep on top of the ravenous appetite of slugs. Mild, rainy weather does have its disadvantages.

The only flowering is happening on the winter heather.

I have discovered where Elmo the cat lives. Recently, I was returning home from my daily walk and when I was several houses from ours, Mr. Elmoface trotted out from chez lui to greet me. He then followed me to my front door, came in, had a brief rest on the living room rug, meowed plaintively, and hypnotized me to give him a butter pellet and a splash of cream. Then off he went. I got to wonder how many other households are on his feeding itinerary as he is one persuasive feline.

Now tell me those eyes are not mesmerizing! 

À la prochaine!

RELATED POSTS

Transplanting strawberries
Freezing strawberries

RELATED LINKS

How to roast pork safely without overcooking

Season's Greetings...and a Cuban hot chocolate recipe

The Calm One and I wish you all a very merry holiday. Be with loved ones, take care, and have fun!

I hope I will finally get around to making Vanessa's fantastic caramelo hot chocolate during the holidays. Her recipe is here.

Regular posting will resume in the new year. Bonnes fêtes!

Mini Canadian Maple Tarts, Elmo the Cat & a Special Gift from Santa

When living in the States, I frequently indulged in a stack of slathered-with-butter, American-style pancakes which were smothered in pure maple syrup. The only reason why maple syrup can be found here, though with difficulty, is the French Canadian connection.

As it is still pretty precious, I resisted buying enough for a full Canadian maple tart. As this traditional favourite is essentially a pudding in an already baked pie shell, the problems plaguing baking mini pies are avoided such as the filling getting done before the crust, but the advantages remain: greater proportion of pastry to filling and facility of scoffing them down.

Ingredients
makes 6 three-inch mini tarts

Pastry, short crust, enough for one crust 9-inch pie (recipe)
Maple syrup, pure, 6 fluid ounces
Cream, heavy, 4 fluid ounces
Cornstarch, 2 T
Water, cold, 2 T
Unsweetened whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg for topping

When making the pastry, I used half butter and half lard.  This mixture gives both buttery flavour and pronounced flakiness.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out dough into a roughly shaped rectangle about an one-eighth-inch thick. Using an appropriately sized cutter (bowls, glasses, lids, etc.), make six five-inch circles. If needed, gather scraps into a ball and roll out to make the required number of rounds.

Unused pastry can be pressed into a ball and then frozen.  Future bits and pieces can be added, and eventually there will be enough for a round of mini tarts or a pie!

Turn over a muffin pan and drape the circles over the inverted cups. Loosely pleat uniformly all around, gently remove, and reserve. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Turn the muffin tin right side up and carefully ease the formed dough into the individual pans. Try not to stretch the pastry or press too tightly as that will make them shrink and puff up too much while baking. However, they should be fitted snugly.

With a small fork, press the tines around the crust, neatening up the edge. Make sure the pastry is contained within each individual pan (for easier removal after baking). Also lightly perforate the bottoms.

Put them in the oven and after a few minutes check to see if they are puffing up. If so, press the bottoms down with a finger moistened in cold water. Check again in a few minutes and repeat if necessary.

Bake around fifteen minutes or until the top edges are tinged golden brown. Carefully remove the shells--loosen the top edges with a thin spatula and slide/ease them out. Let them cool on a rack.

While the pie shells are cooling, make the filling.  Gather your ingredients.

Stir the cornstarch into the cold water until dissolved. It will look like thin milk.

In a medium-sized saucepan, mix the cream and maple syrup until blended. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch.

Bring the syrup mixture to a low simmer. Decrease the heat to low and while stirring, cook the pudding for a couple of minutes.  It will become very thick. Be careful not to scorch it.

Let cool for a minute or so and then pour into the shells.

Refrigerate the pies for at least a couple of hours. Top with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of freshly grated nutmeg.

I was bowled over with these. The smooth, thick maple pudding encased in its flaky tart shell was sublime.

Several cats belonging to the quartier like to check out our garden. One in particular is a real sweetheart. Thinking that it was a female, I named it Esme. When I found out that it is a male, The Calm One suggested Elmo. He is a fabulous, long-haired, black-and-white cat.

He likes to hang around the part of our garden reserved for small wild life to keep an eye out, well, for small wild life like mice and birds. We are becoming great friends and usually enjoy late-morning visits together.

+Lena Levin is one of my favourite artists at G+. She graciously partook in the Secret Santa event.  I got lucky and managed to reserve one of the five paintings she contributed.

Lena is a brilliant colourist and her style straddles the realistic and abstract. She regards herself as a painter of poems. If you enjoy her art, make sure you check out her website.

À la prochaine!